[Closed] What road wheels for £500?

Dura Ace.

I picked up some SRAM S30 Race wheels with 100 miles on them from ebay for £400. Riding really nicely so far.

I also found a set of SRAM S80 deep section carbons for £500 - waiting for them to arrive before I can see how nice they ride 8)

I've recently upgraded from RS10s. Currently running RS80s, which are the carbon laminated dura ace 24mm rims with ultegra hubs, which I think I picked up for £330. Full dura ace wheelset is like £550, and IMO, the hubs would have to have engines in to make it worth the extra £200 or so. It's a good wheelset, but you might as well save your money I think.

Check out ROL wheels - they were the ones I really wanted, but had to go for the RS80s as they were out of budget.

Although it massively depends on what you want out of a wheelset - climbing, road racing, crits, or just some bling for a sunday morning club run?

Not worth going tubeless on the road, there's no real benefits, and quite a few disadvantages. It's worth going tubular if the wheels are just for racing though. But if you want them for doing other things, clinchers are the way to go.

another upgrade from RS10's to RS80's here. To be fair, i didnt find the RS10's that bad, i ran them for a couple of years as my only set, but the 80's are much better. the 10's are now relegated to being winter wheels.

Anyway, very pleased with the RS80's, got mine from merlin for about £290. They seem to get pretty good reviews overall. Done about 1000miles on mine so far on the potholed roads of the lakes and they are still perfectly true.

Not worth going tubeless on the road, there's no real benefits, and quite a few disadvantages.

Go on Realman, i'm interested in what the disadvantages are?
Have you ridden tubeless?
Or are you just speculating?

Planet X Carbon jobs fo sho. Either the 50mm jobs, or buy the shallow section rims and build on pimpy hubs.

RS80's are looking good on my wallet. Cheers all

Go on Realman, i'm interested in what the disadvantages are?

Easy now. First of all I'm a massive tubeless fan off road, don't see why anyone would want to run tubes except for dhers.

However, on the road there's just no real point. You only get a slightly better ride quality, closer to clinchers then tubs. You get a limited choice in tyres, and they're expensive. There's no massive weight reductions. You get a puncture, and you still have to stop and pump it back up as sealant won't work above 60 psi or so. And it means you have to carry 2 tubes instead of 1, or face risking a very long walk home. Also I think it's a lot more likely to get blow offs with the higher pressures, and that just doesn't paint a nice picture on road at 35mph round a corner.

The 3 main advantages of tubeless off road are: lower pressures without pinching, no punctures, better rolling resistance. I suppose you might slightly get the last one, but that's it.

Anyway, very pleased with the RS80's, got mine from merlin for about £290.

****er 😀

RS80 get my vote too.

I'm no lightweight, and they have been brilliant so far.

Ok, so not much benefit to tubeless then. Cheers realman

😆 You have no idea really, do you?

Do you think they might give a better ride? grip better? run better at lower pressure? absolutely no chance of pinch flats?

I've ridden tubeless for the last 6 months and i've no punctures. not one. The ride is much smoother. Grip is better.

Why not try riding some Realman, and then coming out with [i]real[/i] opinions

I've ridden some new clinchers for the last few months and I've had no punctures. Not one. The ride is much smoother. Grip is better. They spin up quicker and roll faster too 😉

If you pinch often on a road bike, you're doing something wrong. I'm not saying they puncture all the time, that's silly. I'm saying that they still puncture, just like clinchers. Ok you only have to pump them back up, but still.

But hey, if they work for you, good for you. I don't see the point in them, but that's just me.

yossarian - not sure what tyres you've got on the rs10's but if you are upgrading to some nice wheels worth getting some nice tyres / tubes as well eg conti grand prix 4000s or something similar.

+1, cheapest I've seen is here..

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Continental-GP4000S-Folding-Tyre/CONTTYRF321

Brilliant tyre.

Tubeless on the road, Why bother, the tyres are heavier than clinchers, there is virtually no choice of tyres and it's way more faff when you do get a puncture. tubeless on the road is such a half assed idea, either man up and run tubs or stick to clinchers.

Pneumatic tires on the road, why bother. Just man up and run solid tires, no punctures whatsoever, and they last for ages.

Pneumatic tires on the road, why bother. Just man up and run solid tires, no punctures whatsoever, and they last for ages.

Moved from Shimano RS10 up to Fulcrum Racing 3's and it's a very big difference in acceleration, the way they roll easily and especially the lack of deflection when cornering - descending is a lot more confident on the new wheels - highly recommended (shop owner I bought the new ones from has a pair of 5 yr old Raacing 3's still going strong after being left untouched)

+1 RS80s (but DA hubs are lovely...)

Big fan of tubeless here (I run the DA 7850SLs). I recognise there are shortcomings but the ride and reliability are better than (the best) clinchers in my experience.

ps. I did a back-to-back recently on a pair of DA 7850SLs and a good pair of handbuilts (OPs on Tune hubs) and the DA were much better. Surprisingly so, as I'm a big fan of handbuilts...

Must admit I read the OP as 'Tubulars' rather than 'Tubeless'. That's the real debate for road riding when you're after ultimate performance....

TheDoctor - Member

Tubeless on the road, Why bother, the tyres are heavier than clinchers, there is virtually no choice of tyres and it's way more faff when you do get a puncture. tubeless on the road is such a half assed idea, either man up and run tubs or stick to clinchers.

+1

+1 for the Racing 3's. Great wheels, not too stiff to be uncomfortable, but still responsive and fast.

Campag Eurus are nice reliable wheels, got me round Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Marmotte and the Maratona.

I went for a set of these:- http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/wheel-sets/product/review-mavic-ksyrium-elite-wheelset-11-44591/

Great wheels, and have made a massive difference to my bike. The climbing and acceleration are much improved over the standard wheelset that came with my bike. Best £400 odd quid ive spent on bike bits for % of performance gain IMHO

As per depthjunkie, I use Ksyrium Elites and they have been faultless in a couple of thousand miles. They weigh what Mavic say they weigh as well which is a bonus...

Running Ksyrium Elites to, not done many miles on them yet but they seem fine so far, certainly laterally stiffer than cheaper wheels I've used before. That said I'd be tempted by the RS80's if I was buying some now.

Also agree with the 'not impressed by road tubeless' argument to, I admit I've not tried it but the punctures I get on the road are rare and usually involves a gash from glass/flint which I'd be surprised if sealant would hold at a decent pressure. Given it's only really Hutchinson producing tubeless road tyres and that they're charging a fortune it's a big turn off for me at the moment.

imo, tubeless on road wheels isn't worth it.

btw, why not a set of mavic kysriums?

Campag Neutron Ultra? Always get very good reviews and light and strong too.

[i]Ksyrium Elites[/i]

Would have recommended these if not for:

[img] [/img]

Only 8 months old. Went a few mm out of true, so went to the bike shop and they found this. 🙁

Leftfield choice?

https://www.stradawheels.co.uk/shop/velocity-a23-wheelset/

Realman have you run tubeless? I have and like it.

OMG an idiot's field day:

TheDoctor - Member

Tubeless on the road, Why bother, the tyres are heavier than clinchers [u](not necessarily, and even if so it's at great expense and negligible weight for the benefits)[/u], there is virtually no choice of tyres and it's way more faff when you do get a puncture. tubeless on the road is such a half assed idea, either [b]man up and run tubs[/b] or stick to clinchers.

So more hassle is better? 🙄

And my favourite for some time:

FuzzyWuzzy - Member
Also agree with the 'not impressed by road tubeless' argument to, I admit I've not tried it

I built up some 1400gm wheels with sh & ebay hubs and stans alpha rims recently for £250. Though a recent incident suggests the alphas may not be up to my 80kg on rough roads...

I had this dilemma a while ago and got some Dura ace carbon clinchers and they are lovely - very happy - 8 months and still very very smooth and shiny 🙂 and more importantly as true as when I bought them 🙂

@cynic-al - nice quoting, why don't you post a meaningful response to arguments against instead of throwing insults. "I like them" isn't exactly empirical evidence. I'm not saying tubeless is crap I'm saying I don't see the benefits are there on the road, especially given the cost of the tyres (I normally replace tyres due to gashes rather than them wearing out)

I'm saying "I like them" rather than "they are the best thing ever" because I have only my opinion to express and I don't want to present that as anything more significant, unlike many, for whom having and expressing a strong opinion as fact is more important than how objective or significant it is.

Whereas plenty like to diss tubeless without even having tried it, and presumably having got their hearsay-based-opinions from that trinity of factual integrity: their mates, cycling magazines, and the internet.

Ref tubeless - have you actually tried putting a tube into a tubeless tyre combo and refitting it? 😉

ref Ksyrium Elite - BBM bikes are currently offering free MP3 (2 years crash damage warranty) which is a bargain!

Err no, my opinion on road tubeless comes from indisputable facts such as cost and there being no weight saving plus my own experience with punctures in non-tubeless tyres tending to be gashes and my own experience with MTB tubeless (which I like but given I've experienced sealant pissing about everywhere from a 40psi tyre I have my doubts it would work any better on a 100psi tyre). All that I haven't done is actually ride them which would let me understand how they feel but given I can't tell the difference when using latex tubes and can barely tell the difference with tubs (and even then I'd guess that's more to do with reduced weight at the rim) then I'm still far from sold on the idea.

Your "I like them" argument offers me no additional insight that would persuade me they're worth trying...

To my mind it's tubs for road (if not normal clinchers), tubeless for MTB, not the other way around!

The only person I know who tried road tubeless reverted to tubes, for the reasons above - negligible difference in feel, expensive tyres, no fewer punctures and they're messier and more faff. If I had the wheels I'd probably give it a go, but it's not something I'd intentionally seek.

OK FW mine feel like they roll better than tubed tyres, which I had thought was also the result of tests? I'm not going to state that as fact though as it's very subjective.

As my rims are tubeless I thought i'd give it a go.

I've got more road wheels than bikes, and that's not including the C/F bling jobbies for TTing.

Got a pair of D/A 7850 CL24s for my 'best' road bike and they've been very nice 8).

My 2004 Campag Zondas are still soldiering on nicely though the bearings need some TLC. - Campag make some nice wheels.

Went off Mavic three years ago when an Aksium rear did what DezB's did. Replaced it under warranty and [i]that[/i] one went in the same fashion 😡

Never tried tubless (road or MTB) though I really can't see the point for road tyres. And this from someone who has 6 C/F tub wheels and was so happy that he managed to fit a Conti tub in (a clocked) 10 minutes.

(For those that don't know, Conti tubs are infamous for being utter utter utter gits to fit).

[i]Aksium rear did what DezB's did[/i]

Odd that, cos an Aksium is being used as a spare now, it's about 3 years old and has had [i]a lot[/i] of use!

I'd be thinking RS80's or American Classics.

I was looking at a pair of American Classics the other day. Rutland are doing a pair of Sprint 350s for £350.

Having gone away and looked around and stuff, I can't really see past the RS80's in terms of weight and overall vfm. I found the debate about tubeless on the road an interesting one, although why do folk feel the need to get so angry about a ****ing tyre???? Anyway it seems to me that the fact that there is so much debate as to the relative merits of going tubeless on the road versus practically universal acceptance of off road tubeless benefits that it's probably not for me just yet.

Cheers all